ALLAN
BRAWLEY
Voices
HUFFINGTON
12.09.12
Does
‘Capitalism
With a
Conscience’
Work?
A
S WE NEAR the end of 2012, which corporate enterprises are the most profitable — those that relentlessly
chase ever higher quarterly stock growth and reward
their top executives lavishly for doing so? Apparently
not. It turns out that bottom-line driven entities lag
way behind many well-known and highly respected
companies that operate on an entirely different model.
We are not talking about community cooperatives,
farmers’ markets, or mom-and-pop small businesses.
We are talking about Whole Foods Markets, Wegmans,
New Balance and the ubiquitous — and everyone’s
favorite neighborhood gathering spot — Starbucks.
¶ None of these enterprises invests in huge advertising campaigns — you won’t see multi-million dollar
spots on primetime TV or elsewhere for that matter.
Allan Brawley
is professor
emeritus of
social work at
Arizona State
University